


Something to Believe In

by fabulously_frenzied



Series: ML Oneshots [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat Noir is a mess, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Marichat, Marinette is the friend you cry on, Newsies - Freeform, Oneshot, and a liiiiittle bit of Adrinette, one-sided reveal, post-episode: s02 e02 The Collector, slight angst, song inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 15:03:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19948153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulously_frenzied/pseuds/fabulously_frenzied
Summary: Chat learns an unfortunate truth. Broken, he runs to someone he knows is safe.





	Something to Believe In

**Author's Note:**

> I was literally mowing the lawn this afternoon when ["Something to Believe In"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FhVL0Jylm4<%22Something) from _Newsies_ (the Broadway one, which, in my opinion, is a million times better than the original movie from the 80s) came on my playlist of songs from musicals, and it gave me the idea for a Marichat fic. The idea of Marinette as Katherine and Chat Noir as Jack Kelly was really adorable and fitting to me. I love that song, and I also love that it doesn't necessarily have to have a romantic context. In the show, naturally, it does.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_"Maaaaaaarriiiiiineeeeeettttte!!!!!"_

Marinette startles awake from a nap on her rooftop balcony. She startles again when she sees a leather-clad cat boy hurtling toward her faster than she's ever seen him go. Naturally, her first instinct tells her to scream in surprise, flail her arms, and fall off her chair, so that's exactly what she does.

She picks herself up off the floor and brushes herself off just as Chat lands on her roof and envelops her in a bone-crushing hug. It only takes a moment for her to hug back, and as she does so, she notices he's shuddering, sniffling into the crook of her neck in uncontrolled sobs. She's hesitant to pull away because he so clearly and desperately needs her support right now, but she knows she needs to if she's going to find out what's wrong.

 _"Shh, shh, shh."_ Marinette rubs soft circles into his back with one hand, and scratches the back of his head—something she knows from experience, both in and out of the mask, has a soothing effect on him—with the other. "Hey. Hey, Kitty," she whispers, "hey, can we sit down? Let's sit down, is that all right with you?" She feels his chin vaguely nodding, so she slowly pulls away and takes both his hands to lead him to her deck chairs. For a good long while, they sit just like that: Marinette holding both of Chat's hands as he sniffles and cries on her balcony. She's never seen him so upset about something before, and though she's dying to ask what has him in this much of a mess, she won't pry. If he wants to talk about it, he will; otherwise, it's none of her business.

Eventually, Chat's sobbing subsides, and Marinette finds his rainy meadow eyes have finally found their way to hers. She knows that if he weren't wearing the mask, she'd be able to see how red and puffy the skin around his eyes must be right now. Despite the mask, though, streams of tears leak down his face. His nose is runny, and Marinette almost asks if he wants some tissues, except Chat chooses that exact moment to wipe his face with his sleeve.

"Okay, sorry," Marinette half-laughs, "I am not holding that hand again. I'm getting you some tissues. Stay right here, okay?" She doesn't move an inch until she sees him, still trembling, nod an okay. "I'll be right back," she says, making her way to her trapdoor, "I promise."

A few minutes later, she comes back up through the door with a tray. Not only did she grab some tissues, but some hand sanitizer (because really, _ew_ ), a plate of fresh chocolate-chip cookies (his favorite), and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. (it may only be mid-September now, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to make this a cozy night if it would cheer him up.) Around her shoulders hangs a blanket, and after setting down the tray on a small table, she wraps the blanket around him and hands him one of the mugs.

"Drink, Kitty," she tells him. "Get some fluids back in you, and then, if you want, we can talk." Surprisingly, he's not slow in drinking from the mug, and Marinette's almost afraid that in his shaky state he might spill it down the front of his suit. Chat finishes, having already drained half the cup, and puts it down in front of him on the tray, revealing a wet line of chocolate along his upper lip. She can't help but giggle. "Why, Kitty, when did you grow a mustache?"

She's unsure if her levity is inappropriate right now, but he actually laughs—real, genuine, Chat laughs—and wipes his mouth with his glove. Rolling her eyes, she shoves the hand sanitizer at him. He accepts the bottle, dispensing a generous amount onto his hands and rubbing vigorously. He looks up at her again. The streams of tears are drying, and the sniffles are becoming few and far between.

"Thanks, Princess. I knew I could come to you," he says. There's still a slight choke to his voice, but it sounds like he's more in control of himself now. "You always have the best solutions to all my problems." Reaching out, he snatches a cookie from the plate and inhales it immediately, then reaches for another.

"Living above a bakery makes it easier to eat your feelings," she shrugs. "And you know I'm always here for you, Chat."

"I do. That's why you were the first person I thought of after—" He stops mid-chew, and for a second it looks like he might vomit. She did not bring a bucket up with her, and no amount of hand sanitizer could clean up that mess. Thankfully, he fights it off and continues eating, albeit at a slower pace.

"Do you want to talk about it, or...?" Don't pry, Marinette. Don't pry. If he wants to talk, he will. Don't pry, don't pry, don't pry...

"I mean..." he starts, swallowing his last bite of cookie. He reaches to take another one, stops, thinks better of it and puts his hands in his lap. "This is the kind of thing I should probably tell Ladybug about first..." Here, she inhales sharply, but he doesn't seem to notice. "...but I feel like you're safer, y'know?"

No, actually, she doesn't. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Ladybug is always so strictly business. She doesn't let anything from her civilian life touch her superhero life if she can avoid it, and she suffocates her own emotions to get the job done, no matter how rough of a day she's having. But you're just _you,"_ he gestures. He must see her confused and, frankly, slightly miffed frown, because he quickly adds, "I mean, you're awesome! You're incredible and super talented and always willing to help other people, even when you're already carrying the world on your shoulders, but you're just... You're a lot more human to me than Ladybug. I guess part of that's my own fault, what with how I'm always deifying her, but I see a lot more human in you, I guess."

Oh. She's not sure how to feel about that. She supposes she is rather aloof as her alter ego, but she's never meant to let that prevent meaningful connections from forming between her and her partner. Maybe she should be better about that.

"So," she begins, "this... _thing_ that's got you all worked up... you can tell me, but not Ladybug?" The irony almost makes her want to laugh, but she stifles it by coughing. Chat frowns and removes the blanket from his shoulders, wrapping it around her.

"Don't get me wrong, I will tell her at some point," Chat reassures her. "Soon, too. This is too important not to tell her, and she'll probably yell at me later for letting my emotions get the better of me and also for getting a civilian involved," she visibly winces and this time he does notice, "but you really were the first person I thought to come see. I can be human with you. I don't have to be strictly business like she is. I can be emotional with you."

God, she really needs to get better at showing him Ladybug cares about him, doesn't she?

"Anyway, uh..." He falters. Marinette watches a million words trying to make their way out of his mouth and dying on his lips. He starts to shiver again, and quickly picks up his mug of hot chocolate to give his restless hands something to hold. "I, uh, I sort of..." She doesn't miss how his breathing quickens and gently places a hand on his knee. "I found out who Hawkmoth is."

One.

Two. 

Three.

"You _what?"_ Her voice pitches in disbelief, and he shrinks back even though her tone isn't accusatory.

He takes a cautious sip of his hot chocolate. "Yeah, um. I-I did. And the thing is, Ladybug even told me once, months ago, that she thought it was him, and I refused to believe her."

_"I think I know who Hawkmoth is!"_

"Like, it sort of made sense? I could kinda see a little bit of why she would say something like that, w-why she might have thought it was him, but she—she wouldn't give me any, like, solid proof! She said she had some, but she couldn't tell me. Probably because of these _stupid_ secret identities she's so adamant about keeping, but then later! Later that day! He was akumatized! So it couldn't be him! It couldn't be my father!"

 _"And I'm supposed to just_ accept _that?"_

"And then... then today." He hesitates, anxiously setting his mug back on the tray and wringing his hands. "Today, I, uh, I saw him do something really weird—but also, like, _super_ movie-villain-cliché—I saw him press these _buttons_ in this-this giant portrait of my mother hanging in his study, and this platform appeared beneath him! Like, this one floor panel just—it-it turned into an elevator! And he went through the floor! And he didn't see me there, so I, uh, I decided to try and see if I could make the elevator work, because I wanted to know what's up, y'know? And, uh, it took a few tries, but, um, I managed to make the elevator happen, and it took me down into this dark room where the only light was from this giant, purple window with a butterfly design in the middle—"

_"Check out his brand's logo..."_

"—and all these white moths on the floor, like the ones that come out of Ladybug's yo-yo after she purifies an akuma! And I panicked and tried to make the elevator go back up, but my father, he, he turned around and saw me as I got the elevator to go, and when I got back up, I ran and ran, and I got to my room and transformed and jumped out the window and kept running—and, and now I'm here." 

His lips begin to quiver, and she sees the wetness return to his eyes. Quickly, she hops from her chair to his, throwing the blanket over them both and hugging him tightly.

"Kitty," she says after a pause, "I am so, so sorry. That must have been horrible to find out. I mean, I guess that all makes sense. What an awful man he is. What an awful father. Adrien—"

The name is out of her mouth before she can even think about it. She almost draws back when she feels him stiffen at the sound of his real name, but he only pulls her closer in. His trembling grows stronger, there's a sudden flash of green light, and suddenly Adrien Agreste is crying furiously into her arms.

Under any other circumstances, Marinette would be having an aneurysm at both this knowledge and at holding her longtime crush. But too much of it just makes sense, and she can feel nothing but compassion for her partner breaking down in her arms. Not for the first time tonight, she realizes just how much her behavior toward him as Ladybug has screwed up a lot between them. One day soon, she'll fix that, but now is not the time. Now, he needs support. Now, he needs Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"Hey," she says softly, breaking the fragile silence between them. She puts a finger under his chin and lifts it gently so they're eye to eye. "You know that you are so much more than everything your father's done, right?" Tears stream harder down his face, but he doesn't back away or hide in her again. "I mean it. Adrien Agreste, you are an incredible friend and even more amazing human being, not to mention a freaking hero of Paris. Maybe she's not great at voicing it, but Ladybug needs you. She couldn't do what she does without your help. And I know that you like being Chat more than being Adrien, and it's your damn father's fault—" He flinches; maybe she's gone a little too far, "—but you need to know that both Chat and Adrien are extraordinarily special and important, okay? You're kind and thoughtful, you always put others before yourself, and anyone who knows you is better for it. I know that being under your father's thumb all the time is wearing you down, I can see it, and I know that finding out he's the one who's been terrorizing Paris for nearly a year isn't doing anything to help. But _you_ are not your father. _You,_ Adrien Agreste, are the most wonderful boy I've ever met, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to call you a friend both in and out of the mask. You have done so much for both this city and the people around you, and you are a better person than your father could ever hope to be. I don't know why he's doing what he does, but know that I'll always be right beside you in everything. Got that?"

The tears flow more slowly now, and there's a look in his eyes she can't place. Granted, she's never been able to look Adrien in the eyes for very long before glancing away or losing concentration—it's like looking into the sun, for goodness's sake—but even as Chat, she's never seen that look before.

For the first time tonight, he smiles. Not Adrien's patent model pose, not Chat's signature Cheshire grin, but a smile, and then she knows what it means before he even says it:

"Thank you, Marinette."

She pulls him back into a hug, smiling with him. "I believe in you, you know."

"Huh?"

"I believe in you. I know you're capable of great things, and stronger than you think you are. Whatever the future holds for you, I know you'll come out on top."

He laughs against her, and Marinette hopes that's not the last time she'll feel him do that. "I believe in you too, Princess."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," he confirms, pulling out of the embrace to look her in the eyes, holding her arms gently. "I really meant it when I told you you're our 'everyday Ladybug.' Marinette, you're probably the strongest person I've ever met, and definitely the most selfless. You'd drop anything to help out someone else, even if they didn't deserve it, and you always give people a second chance. You see the best in everyone, and it brings out the best in you. You may not wear a mask and jump across rooftops like I do, but you're a real hero."

This time it's her turn to laugh, and she sees him smile again. "Then, I guess, as long as we have each other, we can do anything, huh?"

"You and me against the world."

She laughs again, softer this time. He doesn't know who he just said that to. He will one day, but for now, she's happy to just _be_. She drapes an arm over his shoulders, leans back against the chair, and looks toward the distant setting sun.

"Yeah," she says. "You and me against the world."

* * *

_I have something to believe in, now that I know you believe in me._

**Author's Note:**

> Through the process of writing this (and binging the _Newsies_ soundtrack), I realized just how perfect Marinette and Chat (not Adrien, Chat) would be in the roles of Katherine and Jack Kelly, respectively, in that musical. For those of you who have seen it, you hopefully can see where I’m coming from. For those of you who haven’t seen it, ordinarily I’d tell you to go watch it immediately because it’s on Netflix. Unfortunately, I found out this past April that it was removed from Netflix in March. So, if you were really dedicated to the idea of watching it, there’s definitely a bootleg or two of the Broadway version somewhere on YouTube. You can also find the original movie (legally) at your local library, but the story is slightly different and the cast of characters is _very_ different. Part of why I prefer the Broadway to the original is because of the changes they made: they created some much more dynamic and meaningful connections among the characters, especially the female ones—in the original, all the women were either throwaways or love interests. In the Broadway, they made a point of making sure all the characters truly had dimension and depth to them. Plus, without the characters they added/majorly improved, there wouldn’t be some of the amazing songs on the soundtrack.  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Additionally: I would love to make an animatic of Marinette and Chat for this song. Unfortunately, I have neither the skill nor the tools to do so. If anyone out there feels so inspired as to create something like that, please let me know!! All you artists/animators/video editors out there are wonderful and very talented. Keep up the great work!!
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fabulously-frenzied<tumblr</a)!
> 
> Edit: evidently the Broadway version is available on Amazon Prime! for anyone who would like to see it :)  
> 11/15/19: It's also on Disney+!


End file.
